Preview — Paranormality
by Richard Wiseman

Paranormality: Why We See What Isn't There

Professor Richard Wiseman is clear about one thing: paranormal phenomena don't exist. But in the same way that the science of space travel transforms our everyday lives, so research into telepathy, fortune-telling and out-of-body experiences produces remarkable insights into our brains, behaviour and beliefs. Paranormality embarks on a wild ghost chase into this new sciencProfessor Richard Wiseman is clear about one thing: paranormal phenomena don't exist. But in the same way that the science of space travel transforms our everyday lives, so research into telepathy, fortune-telling and out-of-body experiences produces remarkable insights into our brains, behaviour and beliefs. Paranormality embarks on a wild ghost chase into this new science of the supernatural and is packed with activities that allow you to experience the impossible. So throw away your crystals, ditch your lucky charms and cancel your subscription to Reincarnation Weekly. It is time to discover the real secrets of the paranormal. Learn how to control your dreams -- and leave your body behind Convince complete strangers that you know all about them Unleash the power of your unconscious mind....more

Community Reviews

Before reading this book I'd seen a fair few reviews of it on Amazon claiming it was an arrogant, biased view of the unexplained. I'm happy to say that such accounts couldn't be further from the truth!

Of course, Richard Wiseman is well-known for his sceptical views amongst those interested in the supernatural, so the sceptical slant of the book shouldn't surprise anyone. However, I found the book's content to be deeply interesting and very well researched and justified. The book also has a refrBefore reading this book I'd seen a fair few reviews of it on Amazon claiming it was an arrogant, biased view of the unexplained. I'm happy to say that such accounts couldn't be further from the truth!

Of course, Richard Wiseman is well-known for his sceptical views amongst those interested in the supernatural, so the sceptical slant of the book shouldn't surprise anyone. However, I found the book's content to be deeply interesting and very well researched and justified. The book also has a refreshing, witty tone. At no point did I sense any arrogance from Prof. Wiseman - in fact, he seemed very sympathetic towards those who believe in the supernatural. At several points in the book he talks about how we, as humans, are hard-wired to believe in the unknown, as this belief may have provided an evolutionary advantage. This is far from the snobbery that I was expecting judging by some other reviews! The book is subtitled "Why We See What Isn't There", and this pretty much sums up the real focus of the book - not just to debunk everything, but instead to try and understand WHY we are so prone to believing in things without needing evidence. I also found Wiseman's explanations of why certain conclusions were drawn to be very fair (e.g. the Jaytee research or research into the alleged psychic Patricia Putt). At times Wiseman many seem a little matter-of-fact, but at no point did I notice him say that the results of the research categorically proved that someone didn't have psychic abilities; he simply states that the studies did not show any evidence of psychic abilities, which would appear to still allow enough scope for someone to have abilities that simply weren't demonstrated effectively on the day - not the behaviour of someone who's arrogant or thinks he knows everything!

There's a long bibliography at the end of the book for anyone who wants to research more about the individual points covered. I particularly liked the QR tags (newfangled barcodes!) throughout the book that link to videos and audio clips that complement the book's content (URLs are also provided for anyone who doesn't have a smartphone).

This book probably won't convince any believers, and the content is probably very familiar to anyone who's already well-read on the topics covered in the book, but I would highly recommend it as a starting point to anyone who's curious about the world and interested in finding out about the unexplained....more

Richard Wiseman's book, Paranormality, skillfully unravels the superstitious mind and explains how and why we tend all sorts of weird things. He focuses on fortune telling, out of body experiences, psychic power, talking with the dead, ghost hunting, mind control, and prophecy. Wiseman uses real cases and experiments as well as tests and recorded investigations to explain the claims of supernatural experiences - in a way that doesn't make somebody feel stupid for believing something strange in tRichard Wiseman's book, Paranormality, skillfully unravels the superstitious mind and explains how and why we tend all sorts of weird things. He focuses on fortune telling, out of body experiences, psychic power, talking with the dead, ghost hunting, mind control, and prophecy. Wiseman uses real cases and experiments as well as tests and recorded investigations to explain the claims of supernatural experiences - in a way that doesn't make somebody feel stupid for believing something strange in the past, but rather allows them to understand the actual explanations that have been backed by significant amounts of observation and testing. ...more

I started reading this book in February, was interrupted for months, and finished it a short while ago. If you want to believe in the supernatural and are not prepared to be open minded when offered evidence that clearly shows charlatans for what they are, don't read it.However, if you want a well-constructed book that cuts through the hype of psychics & clairvoyants, read Richard Wiseman's Paranormaility. He will show you the simple explanations behind seemingly extraordinary events. He alsI started reading this book in February, was interrupted for months, and finished it a short while ago. If you want to believe in the supernatural and are not prepared to be open minded when offered evidence that clearly shows charlatans for what they are, don't read it.However, if you want a well-constructed book that cuts through the hype of psychics & clairvoyants, read Richard Wiseman's Paranormaility. He will show you the simple explanations behind seemingly extraordinary events. He also explains a lot about the way our brains work.

Whatever your opinions on the paranormal - be it ghosts, portents or spoon-bending - it's clear that there is a lot more at work than the simple telling of fantastical stories. Even if you believe in the supernatural, it's unlikely that you are liable to designate every medium as the genuine article, or every ghost as a genuine echo of a life long passed. The internet and TV are brimming with shows on things that goAlso find this review at my blog 'Preludes'

Things are very rarely what they seem.

Whatever your opinions on the paranormal - be it ghosts, portents or spoon-bending - it's clear that there is a lot more at work than the simple telling of fantastical stories. Even if you believe in the supernatural, it's unlikely that you are liable to designate every medium as the genuine article, or every ghost as a genuine echo of a life long passed. The internet and TV are brimming with shows on things that go bump in the night or individuals who are more than happy to take your money to show off their gifts. If not all of them are the Real Thing (or, indeed, any of them) then why do we buy so enthusiastically into their tricks? What supports their industry and why, given the right circumstances, do we even believe in the paranormal ourselves, unprompted?

Richard Wiseman approaches these questions with a brilliant mix of personal experience, academic knowledge, and an approachable laugh-out-loud snark that doesn't turn into full-out sneering. While it would be too easy to hold up the banner of "SCIENCE!" and use it to insult those who subscribe to the paranormal without further explanation, Wiseman instead takes the approach of focusing on what the psychology of paranormality is and how, through people's natural draw and experimentations in the supernatural, it actually taught science some amazing facts about our minds that we might never otherwise have known. He is critical of those who use their knowledge to deliberately fool other people, but always has a respect for the skill and knowledge involved to do so. While some more innocent believers may be a little irrational or annoying (see the 'reincarnation of Catherine Howard' who followed them around on one of their experiments), he nevertheless gives them some respect.

Whatever your beliefs in the supernatural, this book is well worth a read. For those who don't believe, the book is a fantastic insight into the psychology of our minds that allows us to perceive such spooky goings on as we do. For those who do believe, this insight shows how you can separate out the fakes from the potentially genuine.

The book is very approachable in its style and for a non-fiction book has a nice narrative quality that leads you through all the short sections that make up each chapter. There are little exercises you can do at home to try out your own weird-and-wibbly skills. The gimmick that really made me smile was the Q.R Readers scattered throughout. These symbols can be scanned with your smart phone and will instantly take you to a video of a study that is mentioned in the book. If you don't have a smart phone don't worry - he also has included the website addresses themselves.

Some of the topics on offer are:

-Testing a 'psychic' dog -Fortune Telling -Out of body experiences and how to have your own -The psychology of spoon bending and other magic tricks - How two young girls and an apple on a piece of string created a whole new religion -The power of cults -How to contact the dead - The tale of the talking mongoose in the Isle of Wight -Ghost-hunting and how a group of psychologists almost shook a house to pieces - Hypnotism, brainwashing and the psychology of persuasion -Did Abraham Lincoln foresee his own murder? -The remarkable world of sleep science - The instant superhero kit

And many more.

It's well worth a look for anyone interested in psychology or the supernatural, why not give it a go?...more

My June Amazon Prime Free Lending Library selection.Recommended to me by the president of the National Capital Area Skeptics Society.Very disappointed. I do not understand the high scores for this book.I confess I aborted the read about a quarter of the way through.It started off well, with an entertaining style and some built-in features that could only be put into an eBook, such as links to websites interviews and pictures that move. However,there were odd typographical peculiarities in the boMy June Amazon Prime Free Lending Library selection.Recommended to me by the president of the National Capital Area Skeptics Society.Very disappointed. I do not understand the high scores for this book.I confess I aborted the read about a quarter of the way through.It started off well, with an entertaining style and some built-in features that could only be put into an eBook, such as links to websites interviews and pictures that move. However,there were odd typographical peculiarities in the book that were distracting such as repeated insertions of the word BOX and END BOX and some unexplained insertions that sounded like tennis scores "thirty-love", "Forty-love", that I never understood. Worst of all, the "science" was increasingly unsatisfying. For example,there was a study to see if twins had telepathy or other special ability to predict each others' actions. A good topic to be treated in this book. BUT why would someone write up as meaningful a study that had only 6 sets of twins and 6 controls and where the results for BOTH groups were significantly beloew what would be expected at random (an observation that the author did not even bother to mention, although my husband and I BOTH immediately said it.)? He lost too much credibility for me to be willing to spend more time on this book....more

In haste because of my continued epic battle with the Deadline of Doom . . .

This is an excellent book which has unfortunately been published by idiots: I cannot begin to enumerate the straightforward production errors, up to and including the obvious misspelling in the chapter title "Prophesy" (and repeated throughout the chapter). I gather the book appeared in a UK edition a year later from a "proper" publisher, Pan Macmillan, and I do wish I'd had access to that version instead.

Even with all tIn haste because of my continued epic battle with the Deadline of Doom . . .

This is an excellent book which has unfortunately been published by idiots: I cannot begin to enumerate the straightforward production errors, up to and including the obvious misspelling in the chapter title "Prophesy" (and repeated throughout the chapter). I gather the book appeared in a UK edition a year later from a "proper" publisher, Pan Macmillan, and I do wish I'd had access to that version instead.

Even with all the blunders, I do heartily recommend this book to anyone who might be interested in a highly entertaining, often very witty demolition of the pretensions of the psychic crowd. What marks it out from other books of its kind is that Wisemen is well up on the most recent psychological theories and research, and so can offer some fascinating explanations of events that might at first flush seem inexplicable. And he made me giggle quite often....more

Premise: In this delightful volume, professor and skeptic Wiseman walks us through the science behind many seemingly paranormal experiences, and even explains how you can fake the paranormal yourself!

I don't buy many books for my Kindle for more than three dollars, but I happily made an exception for this one. The big US publishers passed on Wiseman's enjoyable work, reportedly “some suggesting that I re-write it to suggest that ghosts were real and psychic powers actually existed!” So Wiseman,Premise: In this delightful volume, professor and skeptic Wiseman walks us through the science behind many seemingly paranormal experiences, and even explains how you can fake the paranormal yourself!

I don't buy many books for my Kindle for more than three dollars, but I happily made an exception for this one. The big US publishers passed on Wiseman's enjoyable work, reportedly “some suggesting that I re-write it to suggest that ghosts were real and psychic powers actually existed!” So Wiseman, in conjunction with his UK publisher, released it himself.

This is a fantastic book, which I devoured in pretty much one sitting. It's fun to read, it's funny, and it's educational. What more could you ask?

Wiseman examines seven main subjects: Fortune-telling, Out-of-body experiences, Mind over Matter (Telekinesis), Communication with the dead, Ghosts, Mind Control (hypnosis/brainwashing), and Prophesy (Dreams/Premonitions). For each, he gives an easy to follow history of the study of the phenomenon, followed by any current scientific findings.

A lot of the book delves into the specific ways that our brain tricks us into thinking or feeling certain things. It touches on everything from studies showing how likely people are to misremember details or only remember correct information (useful for card-readers to exploit, or for people to claim they dreamed about an event beforehand) to recent developments in easily provoking a disassociation between mind and body in the lab, and how that explains out-of-body experiences. I'd heard of many of these experiments before, but still loved reading this.

The book is also full of simple experiments you can try on yourself or your friends, whether it's how to give a cold reading like a professional “psychic”, how to appear to bend spoons, or how to protect yourself from brainwashing. Also: how to hypnotize a chicken. No, really.

This is a great book for a beginning skeptic: it's accessible and fun, and it showcases some fabulous history about people trying to get to the truth, whatever it might be. Bravo!...more

Could be re titled ‘Egotism. Why I know everything’ by Richard Wiseman.

In a gleefully condescending tone Professor Wiseman sets out from the standpoint that if something cannot be explained and understood by himself and his scientist chums then it didn’t happen, or doesn’t exist.

Some of the of the paranormal experiences he doesn’t disprove adequately. For example the case of the tennis shoe. In which a patient at a hospital reports that during an out of body experience she sees a tennis shoe onCould be re titled ‘Egotism. Why I know everything’ by Richard Wiseman.

In a gleefully condescending tone Professor Wiseman sets out from the standpoint that if something cannot be explained and understood by himself and his scientist chums then it didn’t happen, or doesn’t exist.

Some of the of the paranormal experiences he doesn’t disprove adequately. For example the case of the tennis shoe. In which a patient at a hospital reports that during an out of body experience she sees a tennis shoe on a 3rd floor window ledge on the outside of the hospital. We are told that, on investigation, her social worker finds the tennis shoe but we are told thatthe shoe couldn’t be seen from the ground outside and that from the inside of the building she had to press her face against the glass to see the tennis shoeThe laces were tucked under the shoe as her patient had described and the position of the laces would only be apparent to someone viewing the shoe from outside of the buildingWhether or not the story is true - the scientists who seek to disprove this don’t do so convincingly in my opinion. They place their own tennis shoe in the ledge but claim that it’s visible from the room and from the outside of the hospital. That’s not scientific proof - that’s 2 contradictory reports. They then go on to say that the patient may have overheard a remark about the tennis shoe whilst she was sedated, which is conjecture.They are unable to explain how she knew about the position of the laces but brush this aside “Given that key aspects of the story were highly questionable, the trio thought that there was little reason to believe other aspects of the case, such as Maria saying the shoe was well worn and the lace trapped under its heel”What is significant is that we’re told Marias social worker was initially sceptical about her story but the facts she discovered convinced her. The scientists set out with one goal in mind and that was to discredit Marias story - which, from Professor Wisemans retelling, they do by simply pooh poohing it.I’m not convinced either way.

I think the reason Professor Wiseman irritates me so much, apart from his silly schoolboy ‘jokes’, is the arrogance of that class of privileged, educated, white male baby boomer generation. Perhaps in 50 years time when technology has advanced and, as a result, scientific beliefs have moved on, another author will take Professor Wiseman and his cronies to task with the same self satisfied tone....more

“Paranormality: Why we see what isn’t there” by Richard Wiseman is an easy and enjoyable read that cover a range of topics including telekinesis, prophecy, ghosts, fortune-telling or talking to the dead, and out-of-body experiences. I liked that Wiseman wrote this book in a way that it doesn’t ruin your love for the unexplained but instead presents you with evidence, the history, and scientific explanations that even the most inexperienced skeptic could understand and learn why this phenomena’s“Paranormality: Why we see what isn’t there” by Richard Wiseman is an easy and enjoyable read that cover a range of topics including telekinesis, prophecy, ghosts, fortune-telling or talking to the dead, and out-of-body experiences. I liked that Wiseman wrote this book in a way that it doesn’t ruin your love for the unexplained but instead presents you with evidence, the history, and scientific explanations that even the most inexperienced skeptic could understand and learn why this phenomena’s are fake. The book indulges the reader either believer or not of supernatural events to not be innocent to fall for fakes who want to take advantages of the weak minds, while giving us an insight in the psychology behind the phenomenon’s that will help us perceive these events in the future. The book also includes easy and fun tricks that you can try on your family and friends and have a better understanding on how some people are gullible for illusions if it gives them what they desire such as the fortune teller describing a perfect future or the dead communicating to you. I didn’t enjoy that the book seemed to be as deceiving as the illusions because it felt that the author was writing the book to grasp more readers and presenting some evidence that can be questionable for their validity and credibility because of lack of experimentation, such as the twin experiment. But overall the book had its flaws but was to fun to put down. I learned that people are always trying to trick us in life with things that aren’t easily explained and catches the viewers eyes for financial benefits, so I must be extra careful on what I believe and think could be true and what is already proven fake but only used to take advantage of us for financial reasons. It also open my eyes on how where, when, and how some of this illusions such as telekinesis can be so easy to create but so effective to create mass hysteria. I would recommend this book to others because even if this book goes against your religion, even though the author was careful to not disrespect any religions, or beliefs in illusions and tricks but instead creates a easy to read enjoyable read that provides possible explanations for this phenomenon’s. I overall enjoyed this book and Mr. Wiseman’s approach on this widely unknown territory. ...more

An excellent book and a must read for anyone interested in psychic phenomena or human psychology. Its a relatively quick read which looks at various aspects of the paranormal such as fortune telling, ghosts etc. Each area is backed up with video links (via Q codes) & instructions for how to recreate the experience for yourself or to demonstrate them to friends and family. I've long been fascinated by the rubber hand experiment (I had it demonstrated to me years ago) and what it reveals aboutAn excellent book and a must read for anyone interested in psychic phenomena or human psychology. Its a relatively quick read which looks at various aspects of the paranormal such as fortune telling, ghosts etc. Each area is backed up with video links (via Q codes) & instructions for how to recreate the experience for yourself or to demonstrate them to friends and family. I've long been fascinated by the rubber hand experiment (I had it demonstrated to me years ago) and what it reveals about the way our brain operates and that and other examples of seemingly impossible experiences are included in here. Richard Wiseman is a good guide through this maze he is a former professional magician and is now Professor of the Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire.

Its also interesting that some of the reviews of this book show clearly how much we want to believe that these effects have greater significance. This is from a 1 star review:

"if findings do not conform to the strictly materialist worldview which is in the ascendence just now, they are dismissed, ignored, or explained away".

I'd always thought that that was the point of science was to explain things! (I didn't spot Professor R ignoring anything or dismissing it without explanation - but I suppose that could be my availability heuristic kicking in!)

I'd recommend his other books particularly Quirkology & 59 seconds which also demonstrate how our brain makes sense of the world and how we can make use of this ...more

This book is brilliant! Its explains how some psychic's fool you into believing their 'readings' and explains how the people experience out of body experiences, why you dream about certain things, how people really move objects with their 'mind, explains the reality of communicating with non existent spirits, psychology of suggestion, how people 'mind control', and gives great tips on how to pretend to be psychic too. Although, due to my own experiences that with some people that can't be explaiThis book is brilliant! Its explains how some psychic's fool you into believing their 'readings' and explains how the people experience out of body experiences, why you dream about certain things, how people really move objects with their 'mind, explains the reality of communicating with non existent spirits, psychology of suggestion, how people 'mind control', and gives great tips on how to pretend to be psychic too. Although, due to my own experiences that with some people that can't be explained, I don't believe every single psychic etc are fake this book def makes it easier to spot the fakes! Couldn't put this book down. Highly recommend it! Great read!!!!...more

3 - nudging a 4Quick, easy and enjoyable read. Thought I might be grappling with complex theories but not at all ............Professor Wiseman writes clearly and in an easily understandable way. He does a very convincing debunk on ghosts, psychics, Ouija boards, table turning, out of body experiences etc. Don't think I'll be watching any more repeats of Most Haunted now I've read this!3½ - nudging a 4Quick, easy and enjoyable read. Thought I might be grappling with complex theories but not at all ............Professor Wiseman writes clearly and in an easily understandable way. He does a very convincing debunk on ghosts, psychics, Ouija boards, table turning, out of body experiences etc. Don't think I'll be watching any more repeats of Most Haunted now I've read this!...more

Marvellous debunking of various supernatural phenomena, with wit and candour, and a paean to the strange, still not fully understood workings of that spectacular, unparalleled machine - the human brain!

There are many books on the paranormal, horoscopes, mediums, NDEs, OBEs, haunted houses and other such areas that make us think that there is something going on in the world that science cannot explain. On the other side there are many citing scientific evidence that it is, really, just a load of old rubbish (which most of my readers will know is my view).

Most of us, though fairly rational most of the time, will have some element of the metaphysical to which we cling. It might be religion or belThere are many books on the paranormal, horoscopes, mediums, NDEs, OBEs, haunted houses and other such areas that make us think that there is something going on in the world that science cannot explain. On the other side there are many citing scientific evidence that it is, really, just a load of old rubbish (which most of my readers will know is my view).

Most of us, though fairly rational most of the time, will have some element of the metaphysical to which we cling. It might be religion or belief in ghosts or overpriced apparent magic water that we use instead of conventional medicine. For most, it is the idea that the alignment of balls of rock and gas hundreds of light years away from this tiny planet somehow dictates our character or what sort of day we are going to have.

But how many of those books look at these phenomena as manifestations of human psychology, pointing to a desperate need to believe in these things that detract our mundane lives? Very few outside of psychology text books and this one is the most well known. Another, How Mumbo Jumbo Conquered the World is on my shelf too.

The introduction gives us the example of Jaytee the 'psychic' dog who appeared in Paul McKenna's TV show, and the experiment to determine whether he was able to determine when his owner was coming home from work, the pub, the supermarket etc. As expected, the test proved the truth was nothing of the sort. There is a brief biography of James Randi and how he became the world's most famous sceptic, starting at an early age and established JREF, including that prize fund of $1m. So far despite many claimants, none has stood up to scrutiny.

The first chapter looks at mediums and some of the characters that Randi and others have exposed over the years. Sobering was the test that took a control sample of photographs and showed them to a group of people who claimed to have psychic powers and a group that made no such claim. Each were asked to make assumptions about the person in the photograph. The hit rate was no different between each group and neither group had results of particular note. It then goes on to demonstrate the psychology and tricks employed by such people and how easy it is to pull the wool over our eyes. It explains how such people play on natural egocentrism and selective memory in spreading word of their success. There are even practical exercises you might try yourself.

The following chapters cover OBE's (out of body experiences), NDEs, (near death experiences), Mind Over Matter, ghosts and prophesy. All of them are given a full examination and dismissal as Wiseman painstakingly highlights the common tricks such people employ, failed scientific experiments and even anecdotes that are repeated over and over again in paranormal books - Wiseman gives us another side of the story and they are often vastly different from those presented in the mystical writers tales. The exercises add an element of fun and the references to open-source papers means that you can really investigate these things for yourself. Want to know how to experience your own Out of Body Experience? This books shows you how and it also explains how the phenomenon works and dismisses any suggestion that it is paranormal.

I found the section om ghosts to be the most interesting; specifically how the overwhelming majority can be put down to hypnogogia and the associated mysteries of what happens to our bodies and in our brains when we are sleeping. Very fascinating in that this process is still not fully understood even if the effect are.

The most compelling theme for me in this book is the shockingly awful reliability of 'eyewitness testimony' so frequently cited in tales of the paranormal, and particularly in religious experiences where we already have a large group of willing believers. This is incredibly eye-opening from the standpoint of how the ideas examined in this book rely so heavily on anecdote and the problems of human memory.

Paranormality: Why we see what isn't there by Professor Richard Wiseman

"Paranormality" is an interesting book about supernatural science. Professor Wiseman in an entertaining and engaging manner takes us on a fun journey of debunking popular paranormal phenomena. This 342-page book is composed of the following seven chapters: 1. Fortune-telling, 2. Out-of-body experiences, Mind over matter, 4. Talking with the dead, Intermission, 5. Ghost Hunting, 6. Mind control, and 7. Prophesy.

Positives: 1.Paranormality: Why we see what isn't there by Professor Richard Wiseman

"Paranormality" is an interesting book about supernatural science. Professor Wiseman in an entertaining and engaging manner takes us on a fun journey of debunking popular paranormal phenomena. This 342-page book is composed of the following seven chapters: 1. Fortune-telling, 2. Out-of-body experiences, Mind over matter, 4. Talking with the dead, Intermission, 5. Ghost Hunting, 6. Mind control, and 7. Prophesy.

Positives: 1. The fascinating topic of the paranormal. 2. Very engaging and conversational prose with a touch of humor to boot. 3. Well researched, and one of the most interactive books ever written. The author makes generous use of interactive tags better known as QR tags to link to additional content. 4. Very good format. The author provides plenty of great examples and finishes each chapter with a hands-on application section. 5. A look at the world of mediums and psychics. What psychic reading is all about. 6. How selective memory affects our beliefs. 7. Interesting tidbits throughout the book, "Your personality is, to some extent written all over your face". 8. The chapter on Out-of-body experiences (OBEs) was my favorite. Fascinating legends put to rest and one of the best explanations for OBEs. 9. The sense of where you are and how the brain figures that out. 10. Telepathy...another phenomenon bites the dust. 11. The principles of psychic deception. 12. "Spiritualism" and its origins. 13. Thought-provoking science, "Your brain appears to make a decision before you are conscious of it". 14. The ideomotor action... 15. A unique and fair take on Persinger's theory until... 16. The power of suggestion and "Hypersensitive Agency Detection Device" to explain ghostly experiences. 17. What the scientific evidence says about hypnosis. 18. The appalling case of Jim Jones and The People's Temple and the impact of psychology of conformity. 19. How not to be brainwashed. This should probably be taught in schools everywhere. 20. The science of sleep. 21. Wegner's "rebound effect." 22. The fascinating case of Charles Lindbergh and how it relates to dream premonitions. 23. A great explanation of why dreams are necessary. 24. Great Appendix. 25. Links worked great and then some. 26. Great Kindle value.

Negatives: 1. The book to my surprise, had a couple of misspells and repeated words. Not enough to detract from the entertainment value. 2. This book is not an in-depth look at the paranormal, but it will whet your appetite for more.

In summary, this was a fun and informative book. The engaging and upbeat style of the author combined with a fascinating topic is a fine recipe for an enjoyable read. It will also provide you some wonderful party tricks so that you can amuse your friends. Have fun and pick up a copy. A solid recommendation.

I try really hard to remain diplomatic when it comes to my skepticism of both religion and new age mysticism. This is mostly because those who believe are allowed to announce and discuss their belief systems ad nauseam (even when they may themselves be unaware they are even doing it); however, the second an atheist calls bullshit, we are accused of being “militant” and “just as dogmatic as anyone else.”

I will save my thoughts on organized religion for another day. This book in particular actuallI try really hard to remain diplomatic when it comes to my skepticism of both religion and new age mysticism. This is mostly because those who believe are allowed to announce and discuss their belief systems ad nauseam (even when they may themselves be unaware they are even doing it); however, the second an atheist calls bullshit, we are accused of being “militant” and “just as dogmatic as anyone else.”

I will save my thoughts on organized religion for another day. This book in particular actually focuses on the world of psychic phenomena. Whether you are a dyed-in-the wool skeptic like me, someone who rides the fence, or a believer in psychic phenomena with an ounce of curiosity about actual scientific explanations, this book will not disappoint.

The author, Richard Wiseman, tackles several popular topics in the realm of things mystical. There are sections on out of body experiences, fortune telling, talking to the dead, ghosts, and more. In each section, he discusses real world examples of each of the phenomena. Rather than preach at or disparage the reader, he simply employs rational logic to explain what the reader may believe is “creepy” or unexplainable.

The real achievement of the book is its accessibility to lay readers. Wiseman manages to keep the book fairly engaging even when discussing science experiments and psychology. His method of introducing a certain phenomena or “magic trick” and then coming back to it later with an explanation–rather than explaining it immediately–builds curiosity and anticipation, and the pay-offs are usually worth it.

I would have liked to see a bit more detail given to the psychology underlying these phenomena; the author is clearly going for a broad approach to lay readers, but does an adequate enough job of keeping the book engaging that he could have delved more deeply without abandoning anyone. The anecdotes break up any possibly monotony (especially the story of the talking mongoose), so the science would not have seemed intrusive at all. A heavier discussion of the science would have given even more weight to the book’s overall vision, which is to dispel the myth that these phenomena are supernatural, or even unexplainable.

Overall, the book is an enjoyable read. It will give non-believers a bit more ammunition in their bullshit-dispelling arsenal; it will give believers enough insight to do some additional searching on their own, perhaps strengthening their own faith....more

Paranormality: Why We See What Isn’t There by Professor Richard Wiseman addresses the world of paranormal occurrences and begins to debunk supernatural myths that have been believed for years. One of the phenomenons that Professor Wiseman addresses is lucid dreaming. While this is one of the things in the paranormal category that scientists and psychologist tend to say falls out of scientific explanation Wiseman instead claims that the first lucid dream was recorded in the 1970s by Keith Herne.Paranormality: Why We See What Isn’t There by Professor Richard Wiseman addresses the world of paranormal occurrences and begins to debunk supernatural myths that have been believed for years. One of the phenomenons that Professor Wiseman addresses is lucid dreaming. While this is one of the things in the paranormal category that scientists and psychologist tend to say falls out of scientific explanation Wiseman instead claims that the first lucid dream was recorded in the 1970s by Keith Herne. Wiseman goes on to cover the basics of lucid dreams and how in a lucid dream a person’s image will become blurry in a mirror which I find really interesting. Another topic he goes into is how the human brain likes and is known to find patterns in the world around us and how some people are better at finding patterns than others. This allows these types of people more susceptible to experiencing the paranormal and having out of body experiences or feeling like they caught a glimpse of heaven if they have a near death experience. While diving into myths about why people who claim to tell fortunes and read people’s minds are lying Wiseman also adds in little psychological tricks that a person can use to entertain family and friends which I know I will use someday for fun. The book is nicely written and the content inside is interesting. Professor Richard Wiseman approaches the topic of debunking the paranormal with a type of eagerness rather than a scolding tone a book that is trying to prove some beliefs wrong might accidentally take. The reason I don’t like this book very much is that I felt scared while reading it. I had a general idea of what the book would be about but I find the topics discussed in the book such as out of body experiences and lucid dreaming kind of scary and I don’t usually like to read about paranormal type things. I don’t recommend this book for people who are frightened easily by paranormal type topics but I would recommend this book for people who are interested in the science behind the supernatural....more

this book does not explains why impossible things happens. instead, it explains why people believe the impossible on the first place. from optical illusion to a simply a pure chance, the author explains why we, the smartest and most logical species ever known, sometimes seeing something that isn't there.

if you are the kind of people that believes in ghost and supernatural stuffs, don't worry, there's nothing wrong with your brain. in fact, even the most atheist scientist on earth, once in a whilthis book does not explains why impossible things happens. instead, it explains why people believe the impossible on the first place. from optical illusion to a simply a pure chance, the author explains why we, the smartest and most logical species ever known, sometimes seeing something that isn't there.

if you are the kind of people that believes in ghost and supernatural stuffs, don't worry, there's nothing wrong with your brain. in fact, even the most atheist scientist on earth, once in a while, sees something that isn't there. the difference is just on what happens next, either you believe that this is truly the act of miracle, or you just understand that your mind was playing tricks on you, as the price of being so awesome for the rest of time.

as an extra bonus, the author also explains how avoid being brainwashed by a salesman, or by a stink politician. I would recommend this book to everyone....more

What’s brilliant isn’t that these things aren’t true, it how the human brain makes stuff true, by selective memory and how despite the human brain being fantastic, evolutionarily speaking, it’s still remarkably easy to fool.

I like to think of myself as being difficult to fool, but I suspect, givenAhh, love this. I’m really interested in the brain and why people believe things that they do.

What’s brilliant isn’t that these things aren’t true, it how the human brain makes stuff true, by selective memory and how despite the human brain being fantastic, evolutionarily speaking, it’s still remarkably easy to fool.

I like to think of myself as being difficult to fool, but I suspect, given this book, that if anyone tried, and I didn’t have a cynical hat on it would be amazingly easy....more

Got this for a birthday gift from a friend. Excellent read. Would recommend it to anyone. It's shocking to see just how gullible the human mind really is despite it's amazing ability to be reason on such a high level.

In Paranormality: Why We See What Isn't There Richard Wiseman, Professor of the Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, describes what our belief in the paranormal tells us about human behavior. Topics include: psychics, telepathy, ghosts, out-of-body experiences, mind control, prophecy and others.

At the risk of stating the obvious, there’s no such thing as the paranormal. Unfortunately, I’m not stating the obvious because 75% of Americans believe in some form ofIn Paranormality: Why We See What Isn't There Richard Wiseman, Professor of the Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, describes what our belief in the paranormal tells us about human behavior. Topics include: psychics, telepathy, ghosts, out-of-body experiences, mind control, prophecy and others.

At the risk of stating the obvious, there’s no such thing as the paranormal. Unfortunately, I’m not stating the obvious because 75% of Americans believe in some form of supernatural nonsense. Statistically, you’re probably one of them. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paranor...

So, what’s going on here? Why do so many people believe in things that are demonstrably false? Wiseman thinks it’s due to the brains amazing pattern recognition ability. It is so good, in fact, that it sometimes detects patterns between two completely unrelated events.

You are thinking about an old friend and the phone rings. You pick up the receiver and, lo-and-behold, it’s your friend. You’re a psychic right? Uh, no. We think about people all the time and phones ring every day. The fact that the two events coincided is what’s known as a coincidence (or a coinkydink, if you prefer). It’s just what you’d expect according to the ‘law of large numbers’, which basically states that low probability events occur regularly as the number of trials increases. For example, you might think it improbable to roll two die and come up with ‘snake eyes’ five times in a row. However, if you rolled the dice a million times this ‘unlikely event’ would be expected to occur nearly 129 times. So, it’s not really the miracle you thought it was. Neither is the phone call, especially since you didn’t recall the other billion times you were thinking of someone else when the phone rang.

Paranormality is a fun book. Wiseman (who just so happens to be aptly named) has a great sense of humor and includes a number of interactive experiments, tricks and links to videos. He also provides step-by-step instructions as to how to develop your cold-reading skills in case you want to be the next John Edward and fraudulently claim you can talk to the dead. ...more

This is an excellent book. Professor Wiseman is a skilled magician and illusionist and also has been researching the field of paranormality as a psychologists. Book is written in funny manner. It is full of examples regarding psychics, ghosts and out of body experiences. Each chapter is devoted to a certain paranormal phenomena, Wiseman gives examples regarding popular incident related to it and then goes on explaining as to how researchers tried to explain/debunk the magic behind it . In the enThis is an excellent book. Professor Wiseman is a skilled magician and illusionist and also has been researching the field of paranormality as a psychologists. Book is written in funny manner. It is full of examples regarding psychics, ghosts and out of body experiences. Each chapter is devoted to a certain paranormal phenomena, Wiseman gives examples regarding popular incident related to it and then goes on explaining as to how researchers tried to explain/debunk the magic behind it . In the end of every chapter Wiseman gives certain theories as to why human are hardwired to believe in the certain paranormal phenomena. Each chapter also gives exercise that we can perform to experience or perform the paranormal. Apparently, psychic using don't have special powers but cold reading . Also there are URLs to videos regarding experiments performed to debunk the paranormal. Wiseman is sure that there is no such thing as paranormal. None of the scientific studies have yielded positive results in favor of paranormal. Most of the paranormal arises when the cognitive shortcuts used by our brain fail. For example in the past , a moving bush might suggest a tiger hiding behind it to kill or just be due to flow of wind. Assuming it to be for tiger instead of wind increased our survival chances. Instead if the brain assumed vice-versa even one mistake would had been fatal. Hence our brains are hardwired to see some agent when we see a moving bush even when it was just wind. And this lead to arise in belief in ghosts. Wiseman gives similar explanations for all the paranormal activities. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in learning about human irrationality....more

So for what it is - which is basically an encyclopedic overview of paranormal phenomena, their history, their champions and their detractors, the current (and historical) scientific understanding of what causes them, and even a few tricks you can try yourself to wow your friends (including table tipping and planchette) - this book really is perfect. I like the author's wry sense of humor. It's not uncommon for debunkers to be a little sarcastic and funny, but unlike most, Wiseman is not offensivSo for what it is - which is basically an encyclopedic overview of paranormal phenomena, their history, their champions and their detractors, the current (and historical) scientific understanding of what causes them, and even a few tricks you can try yourself to wow your friends (including table tipping and planchette) - this book really is perfect. I like the author's wry sense of humor. It's not uncommon for debunkers to be a little sarcastic and funny, but unlike most, Wiseman is not offensive and he actually IS funny.

if you're looking for some glimmer of a hope that, according to science, ghosts, mind reading, out of body experiences, etc, MAY be true... this is surely not the book for you. But that's ok. I personally read it, was convinced by it, but will still not be visiting the local murder house anytime soon. So educate yourself, entertain yourself, and then keep thinking whatever it is you want to think. That's my favorite thing about our brains; we can believe in things even when we know they aren't true.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.Professor Richard Wiseman started his working life as a professional magician, and was one of the youngest members of The Magic Circle. He then obtained a degree in psychology from University College London and a doctorate from the University of Edinburgh.

Richard currently holds Britain’s only Professorship inLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.Professor Richard Wiseman started his working life as a professional magician, and was one of the youngest members of The Magic Circle. He then obtained a degree in psychology from University College London and a doctorate from the University of Edinburgh.

Richard currently holds Britain’s only Professorship in the Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, where he has gained an international reputation for research into psychology of luck, self-help, persuasion, and illusion. He has published over 50 papers in leading peer reviewed academic journals (including Nature and Psychological Bulletin), and his work has been cited in over 20 introductory textbooks.

A passionate advocate for science, his best-selling books have been translated into over 30 languages and he has presented keynote addresses at several organisations, including Microsoft, The Royal Society, Caltech, and Google.

Richard is the most followed British psychologist on Twitter, and has created viral videos that have received over 40 million views. Over 2 million people have taken part in his mass participation experiments and he has acted as a creative consultant to Derren Brown, The MythBusters, CBS’s The Mentalist, and Heston Blumenthal, Nick Cave, and the West End play ‘Ghost Stories’.

Richard is a Member of the Inner Magic Circle, an Honorary Fellow of the British Science Association, and a Fellow of the Rationalist Association. He is one of the most frequently quoted psychologists in the British media and was recently listed in the Independent On Sunday’s top 100 people who make Britain a better place to live.

He likes sushi, is fond of dogs, and finds Arrested Development very funny....more

“Our beliefs do not sit passively in our brains waiting to be confirmed or contradicted by incoming information. Instead, they play a key role in shaping how we see the world.”
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“As we continue toward the fifth secret technique of psychics, I have a gut feeling that you are the sort of person that lets your heart rule your head, can sometimes be too impulsive for your own good, and have recently come into contact with a goat. Rest assured you are not the only one.”
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